Body found in search for Michael Mosley

Search teams have discovered a body on the Greek island of Symi

A body has been found in the search for TV doctor and columnist Michael Mosley, who went missing on a Greek island.

The body and an umbrella were discovered in a rocky area beside Agia Marina on Symi on Sunday after an extensive search operation led by emergency workers.

The 67-year-old TV personality was last seen by friends at Agios Nikolaos beach on Wednesday, before going for a walk to the centre of the island.

The body, which is yet to be formally identified, was discovered beneath a fence that runs around a bar on Agia Marina beach, which is surrounded by hilly, rocky terrain that runs down to the sea.

Helicopters have searched the area “every day”, staff at the bar said.

Agia Marina bar manager Ilias Tsavaris, 38, first saw the body alongside journalists after the island’s mayor “saw something” by the fence of the bar and alerted staff.

He said: “They saw it with the boat. The mayor came and saw something so that is when they called me and said ‘Hey they saw something go and check there’.

“They called me, they said ‘You know what we saw something from far away, can you go and check’ so I went there.

“So when I walked up I saw something like a body to make sure. You don’t see a dead body everyday, it is not a warzone, it’s summer you are supposed to have fun and swimming.

“He came from Pedi OK, and he walked not through the restaurant. If he had walked through there (the bar) we would have checked the cameras.

He said “rescuers had searched that area everyday with helicopters”.

The search effort has been widespread, operating in dangerous conditions and high temperatures, and has included police, firefighters with drones, Greek Red Cross workers, divers, a search dog and a helicopter.

Mosley, known for popularising the 5:2 diet and for his appearances on The One Show and This Morning, was on holiday when he vanished.

Greek authorities shifted their focus to a treacherous mountainous area after CCTV footage from a house at the edge of a small marina in the village of Pedi showed the presenter walking towards a mountainous path at about 2pm local time on Wednesday.

New footage released on Saturday also appeared to show Mosley walking unimpeded with an umbrella near to the marina.

Published: 09/06/2024 by Radio NewsHub